Commercial interest in the corner of Ga. Highway 54 and Walt Banks Road has not waned, although the task force assigned to help find a suitable route for its development is no more.

The 33-acre tract has commercial potential right now, despite several restrictions set forth by Peachtree City, and some who were involved in the discussions of the past few months believe that it will be changing shape very soon.

As a whole, the site provides about 18 acres of commercial land and 15 acres zoned for office and institutional uses. But there are a few key requirements for anyone who chooses to develop all or part of the property:

There must be a 100-foot natural buffer on Hwy. 54, which eats into the commercial acreage.

A 50-foot buffer is required on Walt Banks Road.

There cannot be a curb cut onto the property from Hwy. 54.

No individual business in the development can be more than about 35,000 square feet, which would be similar in size to the SteinMart store across the highway.

The site has an interesting history, having been the subject of several lawsuits.

Originally slated for residential development in the city's plans, the tract was rezoned in the 1980s to create a site for a hospital, which at the time was a possibility long before Fayette Community Hospital was built closer to Fayetteville.

When the plans for the hospital fell through, the city was not able to reverse the rezoning, and a fight was on to preserve the corner as the city hoped to see it developed. "It's real hard" to change a rezoning like that once it has occurred, said Peachtree City Mayor Bob Lenox.

One of the things the city is trying to keep from appearing at the site is a shopping center the size of Peachtree East, anchored by Publix, which is just across the road but not in the city limits. "It's just not what we want for the entrance to Peachtree City," said Lenox.

The mayor does not expect much time to pass before at least some of the property is developed, no matter what the current guidelines are.

"My opinion is, it's going to develop pretty soon," he said. "The [land owner] is tired of waiting. He can develop some things under the restrictions we have on the land, he's got a 'For Sale' sign up there, and sooner or later, somebody will buy a piece of it and start to develop it."

That view was shared by John Callaway, whose previous attempts to develop his Mews project there were rejected by the city earlier this year.

Callaway said that after his request was denied, he was retained by the land owner to help sell the land to anyone who might be interested. He initially was reluctant, thinking that the task force could work out a different solution, but when that did not come to pass, he went back to marketing the property.

"We've gotten a ton of interest," he said. "Even with the restrictions."

Callaway said that he has spoken with an auto parts dealer, among others, about possibly locating somewhere on the tract. But he agreed with Lenox that the office-institutional portion of the property, next to the Southern Trace residential development, would probably be developed first.

As for the commercial portion, "the big killer is the buffer on Hwy. 54, because it gives you no highway exposure," said Lenox. He expects businesses that do not rely on walk-in traffic to look into the site more seriously than others.

Lenox said that immediately after he disbanded the task force late in April, he was contacted by some local residents who expressed an interest in continuing to work for an agreeable solution for the property. The mayor said he encouraged them to do so, and offered his help if needed, but any official group activity was no more.